Outwitting Hitler By Radio!

[dave walsh]

There's always been interest on here in the use of Clandestine or Spy Radios used during WW2 resulting in high sale prices sometimes. Radio 4's Book of the Week is currently "How To Win an Information War-Sefton Delmer the Genius Propagandist Who Outwitted Hitler". This is about broadcasting rather than secret communications but it's fighting the same battle. Using the very clever techniques devised by Sefton, fake radio stations were broadcast on Medium Wave frequencies from Calais [Soldatensender [Soldier's Radio] 300, 420 and 400 metres] from 1943-45, with an associated SW station for U-Boats, all aimed at the German home audience. Listeners were totally duped and believed that their "masters" were enjoying a rich, deviant, life style denied to those on the home front from this convincing "German" radical broadcaster!

This was, in itself, a brilliant inversion of everything that had been falsely claimed about the Jewish population previously, so the Nazi's were "Hoist by their own Petard". Delmer was a great asset to the war effort but he suffered criticism due to his dual nationality [ie too German] but he was a brilliant mimic and manipulator, fortunately very loyal and anti-Hitler. I had always heard about the use of humour against the Hitler regime [eg Dad's Army] and the German poor attempts to satirise Britain on their "Haw Haw" radio station but I had not known about the vital work of this man. He seems to have died unrecognised in 1979!

Dave W

Ironically the long running "UK Closure of Medium and Longwave Transmitters" thread has just been revived again. All has been revealed!

[lesmw0sec]

The secret wireless war by the late Geoffrey Pidgeon is a very good read on this subject.

[G6Tanuki]

Delmer's book 'Black Boomerang' is definitely worth a read. Text available free to download from multiple sources online.

It used to be one of the books I recommended to business associates!!

The story of Delmer's exploits was made into a play called Licking Hitler, by David Hare, which was shown on the BBC quite a few years back.

[dave walsh]

"Licking Hitler" is a very impressive work Tanuki. I've had a VHS recording for years. It is on You Tube now! The Author and Journalist Mark Lawson once wrote a piece about excellent BBC productions that have been [perhaps] archived but never seen again. He described a small group of worn VHS tapes kept in the corner of his office that included David Hare's play. I didn't know that it was based on Delmer at all or I would have investigated I'm sure! It seems strange that he still wasn't better known about though. Thanks for pointing out that link anyway. Whilst being criticised for endless repeats [especially Morecambe and Wise et al] the Beeb has now finally started to show classic material [tucked away on 4] eg The Hotel De Lac BBC4 [last night] which was followed by its author [Anita Brookner] presenting favourite paintings with an amazing authority and great interest, back in 1981 from the 100 Great Paintings series. Available for 30 days.

Dave W

[G6Tanuki]

Yes, Licking Hitler is fascinating, both because it is based on the Delmer story and also because the play highlights the sense that what is being done is all rather underhand and betraying, like the personal lives of some of those portrayed.

The complete text of many of Delmer's work can be seen at seftondelmer.co.uk - definitely worth a look if you want a good insight into spoofing, a sort of man-in-the-middle attack, homophonic masquerading etc.

[Chris R]

'Radio War' by David Abrutat - The secret espionage war of the Radio Security Service 1938 - 1946, is well worth reading.
(ISBN-13: 978-1-78155-759-4)

Chris R

[m0cemdave]

Sefton Delmer wrote a prequel to Black Boomerang called "Trail Sinister" which is similarly interesting.

Also associated with his work is "The Black Game" by Ellic Howe, who features in BB as the master forger under the cover name Armin Hull.
Most of the participants in Black Boomerang are given false names, but they are all similar to their real names and often use the same initials.

David Abrutat's book is a comprehensive work on the history of the RSS, but it really could have done with an editor, and a proof reader...

[Ken G3XSJ]

BVWS Bulletins ran several excellent articles on this topic. I believe the title was "Black Propaganda".

[emeritus]

I was listening to it this morning. I am sure that, when describing the construction of the Hellschreiber, the narrator said it used transistors.

[Radio Wrangler]

Given the levels of knowledge of science and engineering in the general population, it isn't surprising.

Amongst all the slurs applied to transistors, 'Cunning nazi plot' has been suspiciously absent. We'll just have to wait and see if anyone else reports hearing it.

David

[turretslug]

I certainly heard it, and thought, "Eh- what?".

[lesmw0sec]

I heard it too. I hope it was just an entry in the script which should have read 'teleprinters'.

[dave walsh]

Thanks for that RSGB reference Keith [post 8*]. I've got most of the Bulletin run so I'm wondering how I missed those articles The book "Black Propaganda in the Second World War" is in the RSGB shop, perhaps that will have reference to the articles? I have a rough index but if I've missed them they won't be there.

Dave W

[Silicon]

Some of the radio signals came from the Aspidistra transmitter hidden under the Sussex countryside.

The fake radio station 'Soldatensender Calais' used the transmitter.

[m0cemdave]

And some of them came from Potsgrove, a few miles to the West of the studios at Milton Bryan (near Woburn, Bedfordshire).

There were two sets of buildings a few hundred yards apart, each with a generator house and a transmitter building. Because they were top secret installations, the name Postgrove wasn't used, and they were known by code names "Poppy" and "Pansy".

In the intervening years one set (Poppy) has become derelict and surrounded by woodland, but the other pair of buildings has been well maintained and is still in use by a business.

Pictures from last summer:

[m0cemdave]

Aerial views, 1945 and 2022. The red lines are a public footpath, hence the access for photography:

[Neil Purling]

The 'Aspidistra' transmitter was also specifically designed to be able to change frequencies rapidly in order to beat the German jammers. One German commander allowed the broadcasts of the 'Atlanticsender'' to be piped around a barracks 'because the music was so good'.
Only to be told it was a forbidden enemy radio station
At Milton Bryan they were able to gauge when stations would go off the air as bombers approached.
They succeeded in impersonating official German radio relaying similar programming from other Reich stations plus their own original work.